Contenders & Pretenders in the West

[Andrew]

So, the top five seeds in the East are doing alright, the Eastern Conference playoffs should yield a few interesting series, and a couple of teams might be legitimate contenders if/when they get rolling...or at the very least, give a team from the West a halfway competitive Finals series.

The Western Conference itself is a lot more competitive though, with nine teams at .500 or better as of this post. Teams like the Kings and Pelicans are starting to come back to Earth, the Suns are a bit unpredictable at the moment, and the Thunder finally have their two best players out on the court and are poised to make a run at getting back into the top eight. However, the top seven teams out West all have impressive records so far; with the exception of Dallas, they all have winning percentages that are equal to or better than the top three teams in the East.

1. Golden State Warriors (19-2)
2. Memphis Grizzlies (17-4)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (17-5)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (16-5)
5. Houston Rockets (16-5)
6. San Antonio Spurs (16-6)
7. Dallas Mavericks (17-7)

The question is, who are the real contenders, and who are the pretenders? Who do you think will drop off a bit before the season is out, and who seems the likeliest to have a great regular season record, only to falter in the Playoffs?

[Kevin]

Mavs and the Rockets will probably slide down, letting OKC and a team to take their spots.
Grizzlies will get in the playoffs but wont get past the 2nd round.

[NovU]

I have a feeling Grizzlies will slide down in regular season rankings a bit. Those aren't young guys and their grizz grind game probably will test those old guys' knees and legs. Similar with the Mavericks but they're currently 7th where they more or less belongs.

What's amazing is those Spurs. They sit their star players constantly yet have such an amazing record. I am not sure which seed they will end up with though.

As for the Warriors and Blazers, they're young and eager(at least some of their core players). They will do good this season. But Warriors are deeper team, they could afford injuries and probably could get away contending as they did all this with David Lee not logging a single minute and Iggy barely clinging to a bench role this season. The Blazers themselves are improved but probably still a 7 man rotation at best and 1 injury could hurt them miles.

[JAWSFreelao]

I think the Suns are actually the shoe-in for the 8th playoff spot. They will beat the Mavericks if faced with them in the playoffs.
Dallas will slide up, just as soon as Chandler Parsons' offensive game appears.
Houston and Golden State are definitely contenders. They're both seemingly at the top of their game. Though Houston winning despite its lack of depth is surprising. Houston's lack of depth will hurt them in the playoffs. I predict another first round exit. The Dubs will get to the Conf. Finals, and will play the winner of Dallas-Phoenix.
Portland will stay exactly where we're at unless there's an injury to the starting five or Blake/Kaman. We will advance out of the first round, but we won't get further than that.
My predictions,y'all.

[air gordon]

Spurs-Warriors-Grizz as contenders. I like the Rockets as a darkhorse. they continue to pile up wins without their starting c & pf

[JAWSFreelao]

Rockets continue to pile up wins without their starting c & pf

Lol Tarik Black ftw.

[benji]

Based on B-R's monte carlo, if trends continue as expected (which they won't for the Thunder that's pretty obvious):

1. Toronto Raptors (57-25)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30)
3. Atlanta Hawks (50-32)
4. Washington Wizards (49-33)
5. Chicago Bulls (47-35)
6. Boston Celtics (38-44)
7. Milwaukee Bucks (37-45)
8. Miami Heat (36-46)
9. Indiana Pacers (35-47)
10. Orlando Magic (34-48)
11. Brooklyn Nets (33-49)
12. Charlotte Hornets (31-51)
13. New York Knicks (25-57)
14. Detroit Pistons (24-58)
15. Philadelphia 76ers (19-63)

1. Golden State Warriors (61-21)
2. Memphis Grizzlies (55-27)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (53-29)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (54-28)
5. San Antonio Spurs (53-29)
6. Dallas Mavericks (52-30)
7. Houston Rockets (49-33)
8. Sacramento Kings (44-38)
9. New Orleans Pelicans (43-39)
10. Phoenix Suns (43-39)
11. Denver Nuggets (39-43)
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (35-47)
13. Utah Jazz (31-51)
14. Los Angeles Lakers (29-53)
15. Minnesota Timberwolves (23-59)

[Lamrock]

Portland is clearly going to win it all this year. They actually defend and have a top 20 bench now. It's gonna rain threes. OKC will probably lose to them in the wcf as a 5 seed - GS relies too much on injury prone Bogut, Rox are overrated - same for LAC. Grizzlies are a match-up nightmare for Portland but I don't think their offense will be good enough for a deep run

[Mandich]

I like the Mavs as the underdog in the playoffs. I'm not saying they'll win it, or even make it to the finals. But some noise is my prediction.

[deihatein]

I like the Mavs as the underdog in the playoffs. I'm not saying they'll win it, or even make it to the finals. But some noise is my prediction.

Just like last year!

Cuban/Donnie managed to upgrade the two important position needed with offense at the 3 (Parsons) and defense/rebounding at the 5 (Chandler) but failed to address the flaw at having an undersized point guard that can't defend at the PG postion. Doesn't help that Monta is undersized too. Sure, having depth at one position isn't a bad thing but it's bad that all of them are reserves and the one starting is playing like shit.

Bench have been inconsistent as well. I miss Carter

[NovU]

Cuban and his boys did what they could, to improve the team. Only real loss was VC and Marion on last legs. I wouldn't even call them loss. I don't think you'd want them to be viral part of a championship team anyway. The Mavericks got Tycon-Chandler-Parsons, and some nice cheap PGs. You don't need a star caliber PG anyway with this team as Monta does a lot of ball handling(see Jose Calderon, he couldn't facilitate shit alongside him).

Still waiting for a verdict but it seems Cuban did pretty well. I thought Dirk was close to being done but since it isn't the case, these new pieces will give Dirk some breathing room during regular season and make a run in the playoffs. Si, gonna be Interesante.

[deihatein]

I wouldn't even call them loss. I don't think you'd want them to be viral part of a championship team anyway.

Carter was an integral part of the good bench from last season. From what I know, some championship teams have 1-2 players coming off the bench.

You don't need a star caliber PG anyway with this team as Monta does a lot of ball handling(see Jose Calderon, he couldn't facilitate shit alongside him).

I'm not saying they should pair Monta with a PG that can facilitate, rather one that can defend. and hits occasional 3's. Calderon is okay but his defense is something Mavs fans hated for a while. Nelson isn't doing any of the two.

[JAWSFreelao]

I think we only start Jameer Nelson because he's awesome. ^_^ As a person, anyway. Lol.

[NovU]

Jameer came at a discount, much cheaper than Devin and Felton. Not a bad deal for a starter.

So which available player do you think the Mavericks should have got? deihatein. Rio Chalmers seems to fit the description.

[Andrew]

The Spurs aren't firing on all cylinders right now, but you just can't count them out. How many times have they supposedly been at the end of their relevance, yet here they are, coming off back-to-back Finals appearances and they're the reigning champions. Having homecourt advantage was big for them last year though, so the slow start may be costly for them the deeper they get into the postseason...assuming the other elite teams out West don't collapse.

If they remain relatively healthy, the Warriors should have a tremendous regular season. It's still too early to call 70+ wins - if they still only have two or three losses around the All-Star break, then we can really start talking about it - but they could come really close, at least getting to 65 or so. They're early candidates to be Western Conference Finalists, but I think a team like the Spurs, at their top of their game, could take them out. Still, that'd be a great season for a young team, and probably a sign that they're establishing themselves as a dominant team for years to come. My guess is that they'll be the only team to have single digits in the loss column come All-Star Weekend.

Similar story with the Grizzlies, Blazers, and Rockets, but to a lesser extent. I could see them having great regular seasons and making the West Playoff bracket very exciting, but ultimately falling to a team like the Warriors (homecourt advantage, playing some great basketball) or the Spurs (well-oiled machine, veteran savvy). I don't think the Mavericks are getting past the second round, but I could certainly see them causing an upset in the first round...if you could even really call it an upset, with the way the Conference is at the moment. I'm not sure about the Clippers; they're shaping up to have a good year, but again, with the way things are going in the West so far, good isn't really going to be good enough.

[Stress Fracture]

I don't know, but I can see that the Warriors will end up as the 2013 Nuggets.

[Andrew]

It's not unthinkable, given the competitiveness of the West right now.

[benji]

Spurs have often started slow under Pop, especially when he tinkers early on, they're also willing to lose regular season games to learn things about the team makeup. (Something Don Nelson was once famous for...the amusing thing being what he was trying to figure out during his last senile days with the Warriors was how to employ a small-ball four semi-permanently after stumbling upon the match up issues it causes during the "We Believe" run...which is now all the rage.)

Should be noted, it really worked for Maggette that season. Though the team should have played some defense that year.

[JBoom_LALALAND]

Spurs are still contenders. The Clippers and Mavericks are dark horses. Rockets will be eliminated early, lack of depth. Warriors, Blazers and Grizzlies are actually good. The Grizz and warriors are deeper and more experienced than the Blazers though, not to mention the Blazers' lack of depth. I don't know if the Grizzlies have what it takes too. I think they're missing a wing guy.

[shadowgrin]

lol the Clippers are not a dark horse.

They have a top 3 PG, a top 5 PF, a top 10 C, a 6th man that can get buckets, and they play under someone who has coached grown men to championships.

I doubt people would be surprised if they make the Finals or if they win it all.

[JAWSFreelao]

Problem is their starting Small Forward. They need Wilson Chandler/Gerald Green at the 3, then they'll be true contenders.

[Andrew]

Even with the prominent/high profile names on the Clippers, you could argue that they're a dark horse because they're not really being talked about too much as a contender. More attention is being paid to the other top teams in the West, and even though they've slipped a bit in the standings, the Spurs are in the discussion because of their history, and by virtue of being the defending champions.

[NovU]

With the way things are going, you probably could say all playoffs teams are contenders this year. Heck, the Thunder are creeping back on radar. Insanity.

[Kevin]

Westbroooook!